Latest news with #LisaFrizell
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Colorado lawmakers urge governor to sign social media protection bill
Chelsea Congdon speaks about Senate Bill 25-86 at the Colorado Capitol on April 14, 2025. (Sara Wilson/Colorado Newsline) Supporters of a Colorado bill that would set standards for how social media companies respond to users who violate a platform's illegal sales policy are urging Gov. Jared Polis to sign the legislation. Senate Bill 25-86 passed both the House and Senate with bipartisan support, but sponsors fear Polis, a Democrat, will veto it based on First Amendment concerns. 'This bill simply says that for users egregiously harming our kids, they cannot be given endless chances to continue victimizing others. If this kind of conduct that we see on these social media platforms was happening on the street, there would be no question about intervention. None,' Sen. Lisa Frizell, a Castle Rock Republican and bill sponsor, said at a press conference Monday at the Capitol in Denver. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The bill targets social media users who illegally sell drugs and firearms or attempt to sex traffic on the platform. It would require companies to determine if a user violated those policies within 10 days of a notification, during which time their account would be suspended. If a company determines someone broke the policy, it would have 24 hours to kick the user off the site. Those companies would need to comply with a search warrant for materials from Colorado law enforcement within three days. The legislation is an attempt to protect the young users of social media and help law enforcement identify perpetrators and prosecute cases successfully. 'No one sells fentanyl to a kid online just once and then decides the next day 'You know what? I'm never going to do that again.' This is repeated conduct,' said Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty. 'In the meantime, while we're waiting for those search warrants to be returned and those records be provided so investigations can move forward, additional people are hurt and killed.' He pointed to multiple drug cases in his district where most of the sales were occurring over social media platforms. If this kind of conduct that we see on these social media platforms was happening on the street, there would be no question about intervention. None. – Sen. Lisa Frizell The bill has bipartisan sponsorship and support. Sen. Lindsey Daugherty, an Arvada Democrat, Rep. Anthony Hartsook, a Parker Republican, and Rep. Andrew Boesenecker, a Fort Collins Democrat, ran the bill alongside Frizell. It passed the Senate on a 28-5 vote in February and the House on a 46-18 vote in March. Those margins, if they stick, could override a Polis veto. Michael McReynolds, the legislative liaison for the Governor's Office of Information Technology, said the office is worried about assigning private social media companies as the arbiters of whether a user broke the law and should be removed from the platform. 'Our main concern is the discomfort with this bill's reliance on private companies to interpret and enforce the First Amendment. Delegating the nuanced and complex task of balancing free speech rights with the protection of vulnerable populations to private entities raises significant concerns about consistency, transparency and potential for overreach,' he told lawmakers during a House committee hearing on the bill in March. 'If someone is using an expression and talking about that activity, where is that line and how is that being interpreted?' he said. But that argument is 'absurd' and 'insulting,' according to Chelsea Congdon, who lost her 19-year-old son to a fentanyl overdose in 2020 when he bought counterfeit drugs over Snapchat to ease his pain after a shoulder dislocation. 'There are no First Amendment rights to sell illegal drugs or guns to anyone, especially children,' she said. 'If Senate Bill 86 had been law in 2020, Miles might be alive today. The person who sold him fake Percocet might have been off that platform, and if not before Miles died, then at least before the next kid did.' Under the bill, social media companies would also need to provide an annual report to the state attorney general's office with specific data about illegal firearm sales, drug sales, sex trafficking of minors, and creation of sexually exploitative materials involving minors. McReynolds also raised concerns about how that data collection provision could interplay with the state's data privacy laws. The bill has the support of Colorado Ceasefire, the Colorado Children's Campaign, the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police and the Colorado District Attorneys' Council. It still needs to be signed by House Speaker Julie McCluskie before it gets sent to Polis. That begins a 10-day timeline for him to sign or veto it, or it goes into law automatically. If he vetoes it, the Legislature could move to override it with a two-thirds vote. Polis has never had a veto overridden during his time as governor. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
CBS News
28-03-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Audit finds Colorado Department of Labor over-collected millions of dollars from employers
Colorado employers paid $5 million more than they owed in unemployment insurance last year, according to a newly released audit. The Office of the State Auditor says a programming error in the Department of Labor and Employment's MyUI+ system -- the system for unemployment benefits in the state -- led to some employers overpaying and others underpaying. Up to 30,000 employers were impacted. The audit also found that 4,100 employers who should have been paying into the Family and Medical Leave Insurance -- or FAMLI -- Program, have not made payments, while others who were exempt from the program paid $127 million. The Labor Department refunded the money, but the audit found it failed to account for the refunds on its books. "Fundamentally, what we have here -- between these two programs -- is a system that breeds a lack of trust," said Republican State Sen. Lisa Frizell, vice chair of the state's Legislative Audit Committee. "This is a system that is problematic for employers, it's problematic for those who pay into FAMLI. We need systems in the State of Colorado that citizens and businesses can trust and unfortunately in these two situations we have neither." The Colorado Department of Labor released a statement saying it takes the findings seriously and is addressing the issues identified in the audit. It says it has also identified affected employers and will be crediting them for overpayments or billing them for underpayments.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
‘I am not going to stop fighting': Colorado State Sen. Lisa Frizell announces cancer diagnosis
DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado State Senator Lisa Frizell on the Senate floor Wednesday morning announced she was recently diagnosed with stage I breast cancer. Frizell, a republican from Castle Rock, said she would continue to fight for her constituents at the state capitol while also fighting this new battle with cancer. 'This announcement is out of respect for my constituents in Senate District 2; I am accountable to them, and I always want to be transparent,' Frizell said on the floor. 'I want to be clear to all that I am not going to stop fighting for the good people in Senate District 2, while I simultaneously fight this new battle. I am not going anywhere, and I'm going to be fine.' State leaders offered their support to Frizell, calling her a fighter and champion for her constituents. House in Old Cherry Hills Village could break neighborhood's record sale 'Senator Frizell is a strong champion for the people of Senate District 2, Douglas County, and the people of Colorado,' Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen said in a press release. 'Senator Frizell is a fighter. She wins for her constituents, she wins for the Senate Republican team, and we are confident she will swiftly beat this personal challenge.' In her announcement, Frizell also encouraged Colorado women to get screened regularly. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment on their website say two in five Colorado women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, and regular screenings can save someone's life. 'I have a heart of gratitude that my cancer has been caught early because of a routine screening, and this is my public service announcement today,' Frizell said. 'Get a mammogram every year. Do it even though it is inconvenient and intrusive. Do it because it can save your life.' Download the FOX31 App: Breaking news alerts & Pinpoint Weather The CDPHE has several resources for getting screened and for people diagnosed with cancer. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Colorado bill would create duty to report misconduct at state crime lab
Sen. Lisa Frizell (left), Rep. Matt Soper (middle) and Rep. Yara Zokaie (right) speak about a bill to establish a procedure for misconduct reporting at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation on Feb. 20, 2025 at the Colorado Capitol. (Sara Wilson/Colorado Newsline) Colorado lawmakers are running a bipartisan bill to set expectations for reporting misconduct in the state's crime laboratories, an effort that comes in the wake of revelations that a former forensic scientist allegedly mishandled thousands of DNA tests over her career. 'We are here because of due process and fairness — the idea that if a (Colorado Bureau of Investigations) employee sees data malfeasance going on, they have a duty to report and disclose, so that district attorneys can make a decision whether or not to act and whether it would impact their cases,' said Rep. Matt Soper, a Delta Republican sponsoring the bill. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX He is running the bill alongside Rep. Yara Zokaie, a Fort Collins Democrat, Sen. Lisa Frizell, a Castle Rock Republican and Sen. Mike Weissman, an Aurora Democrat. Former CBI scientist Yvonne 'Missy' Woods was charged with 102 felonies in January over allegations that she manipulated DNA test results during her career. Prosecutors worry that over 1,000 cases could have been affected by dubious evidence she processed. 'We never want to see something like this happen again,' Soper said. 'We want to address some of the issues that have occurred here so that we have integrity back in our state lab.' House Bill 25-1275 would require crime lab employees to report a wrongful action they witness to their supervisor within two weeks. That is defined in the bill as an act from an employee that is a 'gross deviation from the standard operation procedures.' The supervisor would then need to investigate the claim. The CBI director would need to tell district attorneys about the alleged wrong action in affected cases, and attorneys would need to notify defendants — and in some cases victims — if there was lab misconduct in their case. 'Right now, there are defendants serving time who have no idea that the evidence used to convict them was handled by a crime lab employee implicated in misconduct. There are victims who don't know that the forensic evidence in their case may have been compromised,' Zokaie said. The bill would also give defendants the ability to return to court if their conviction substantially relied on evidence subject to misconduct. The intent is that it would apply to cases affected by the Woods scandal. 'All Coloradans have an interest in determining whether Missy Woods' misconduct caused wrongful convictions,' said Jud Lohnes, a staff attorney with the Korey Wise Innocence Project at the University of Colorado Law School. 'The importance of forensic testing cannot be overstated. A single DNA result can affect an entire criminal case.' Sponsors hope to fast-track the bill. It was introduced Wednesday and assigned to the House Judiciary Committee but has not been scheduled for a hearing date. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
